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Police say electrocuted worker may have been stealing copper

St. Paul police say the 50-year-old Twin Cities man killed in an electrical accident this morning may have been trying to steal copper from an underground duct.

Spokesman Paul Schnell said the 50-year-old man, who has not been publicly identified, worked for a local telecommunications contractor, but wasn't on the job or authorized to be in the manhole where he died.

Investigators believe he had been handed a saw shortly before the accident that killed him and knocked out power to the State Capitol and a nearby hospital.

Schnell said police were investigating the case as an attempted theft. "All indications are that was what the man was about or attempting to do," when he died, Schnell said.

Police are also talking to a man who was at the scene and may have also been involved in the incident.